Cyclocross secret rule #1: When the guy says "go!" he means the race is starting, please don't just stand there. I was lost in my thoughts at the start line, missed the go and started dead last. Cheese please.
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| These guys went on 'go' |
I think if anything my slow start probably helped my overall race since it forced me to have a pretty nice warm up on an extremely bitter, typical NY fall day. The few flurries I noticed while pre-riding had me anxious for some snow, but no luck. One things for sure-I have a lot of work to do to get my Cross starts to where i'm happy with them. Two crap starts in a row. To quote
Victor, who shouted this at me last week every time I passed him, "that ain't no mountain bike!" Hahaha. Rock on. This ain't no roadie!!!!!
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| Go! |
What a fun race. First of all, both my wheels stayed on my rig the entire race :) What more could a guy ask for?! The xtr mtb skewers are a much better fit then those flimsy road ones. Second, the course was pretty much a gravel race track through the woods with some really sweet natural features, one set of the usual cross barriers, and of course plenty of field to bring on the burn. It was the type of course that became more fun with each lap as I found the best lines. Picking a line for a Cross rig is a far cry from on the mtb but i'm getting the hang of it. I'm getting better at predicting how much speed the rig will or will not carry, and how my torque effects traction and speed. Torque on the Cross rig doesn't always = speed. It's just so different then I expected it to be in those situations, but it forces the correct and fastest decision/line/technique naturally so it's got to be good for my mountain riding. If anything my body will thank me for the added finesse it's teaching me.
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Lots of space between the
barriers today. |
Today the race started on the road with a short sprint to some grass, then into a wooded gravel bike path with a technical section of muddy off camber roots that not many people rode. The skinny Speed Kings are so nice on mud. I'm sure if 'Velcro' wasn't trademarked that's what Continental would have named them. That spot then lead us right onto a bridge with a very short almost-climb onto the twisty and loose gravel race track, which eventually wrapped around into a tight gravel S turn onto another bridge, up the gravel hill into the mud, another tight turn and through the chatter up some huge dirt steps, down the other side of the house-sized dirt pile (hurry to clip back in) and then off the bike again five seconds later through the barriers, quick!-hop back on, zig zag though some field and a final crazy mud/chopped up rooty dismount turn, a little more field, then back onto the road through the finish where it started. Complete with an announcer, food, beer garden and some great race fans.
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| Saaweet dirt mountain obstacle! |
My teammate Katina rolled a tire and was still able to ride it out, pulling a 2nd place finish and putting
Crankskins on the podium again. That woman sure can churn and burn. Another impressive effort.
I snagged a few training tips from Jeff while we watched Katina's race so i'm stoked to get out and try some new exercises this week that should help improve my pedal strokes and promote steady power output. After this race I feel like I have the hang of the gearing, and I actually found a couple combos I really like. It's strange because on the mtb I never learned to shift. I just hopped on and never gave it a thought. On the Cross rig though I have been picking some horrible gears, usually in clutch situations. Today I set my cadence alarm to keep me from churning in those bad gears and it made a notable difference. If the Garmin would simply shock me during training rides rather then just sound it's audible alarm i'd probably learn a lot quicker (like those K9 obedience collars).
I had quite an epiphany today-it's not that the Cross rig doesn't carry speed well, it is just so easily influenced by tiny variances in terrain. One pebble can and will take all of it's momentum away almost instantly. Easy fix though, just never stop pedaling. Even if I feel like i'm too spent to put any power to the pedals just keep them spinning and it's amazing how much speed the rig will carry without much effort.
Can't wait for my next Cross race. What a rush!
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